Having already carved out a strong reputation within the horror genre thanks to unsettling gems like Caveat and Oddity, writer-director Damian McCarthy returns with perhaps his strongest spooky tale yet — a chilling spin on 1408, blending haunted hotel horror with a desperate writer trying to escape a nightmare closing in around him.
This eerie tale unexpectedly opens like something straight out of Dune, as a man and a boy wander across vast sand dunes attempting to solve a strange puzzle. It’s eventually revealed to be nothing more than a sequence playing out inside the troubled mind of Adam Scott’s Ohm Bauman, a struggling writer desperately trying to craft the perfect ending to his latest novel.
A fleeting glimpse of something sinister on a staircase hints at horrors to come as Ohm travels to Ireland, checking into the same hotel his now-deceased parents once visited many years earlier — a cherished memory that slowly gives way to something far darker.
Ohm himself is hardly the easiest protagonist to warm to. He recoils at the sight of a dead goat upon arrival, treats the hotel staff with open contempt and even burns a bellboy with a hot spoon out of sheer irritation. Yet despite his flaws, the audience gradually finds themselves rooting for him — especially after hotel worker Fiona (Florence Ordesh) makes a shocking discovery during a late-night visit to his room.
No spoilers here.
When Fiona mysteriously disappears soon afterwards, Ohm becomes determined to uncover the truth behind her fate — a trail that may ultimately lead him towards the hotel’s infamous Honeymoon Suite, a room locked away for years and rumoured to be haunted by a witch.
What follows is pure atmospheric horror.
McCarthy once again proves himself a master of unease, crafting sequences where every creak, distant noise and shadow lurking in the darkness keeps viewers staring nervously into the frame. The jump scares land with genuine force too, while seemingly innocent details — an old ticking clock or the groan of a wooden elevator — become terrifying tools in building the film’s suffocating tension.
David Wilmot also injects a welcome sense of chaos into proceedings as Jerry, helping balance the creeping dread with unpredictable energy.
With its unsettling imagery, murder mystery undertones and relentless atmosphere, Hokum — a title that literally means “nonsense” — is anything but.
In fact, it may well be one of the very best horror films of 2026.
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